Sermon for the Wednesday of Oculi, 2025

All power and authority come from God; this is especially true in the case of the preaching of the gospel. Did you notice that detail: that this confrontation occurs in the temple as Jesus is preaching the gospel? Beloved, this is no coincidence. Jesus is preaching the forgiveness of sins found in the atoning sacrifice He is about to make. What greater authority is there than to release guilty sinners from the sentence their sin demands? None, really, for that authority comes from power—real power: the power to lay down one’s life, and the power to take it up again; the power of God. The enemies of Christ cannot stand to have the gospel preached, for, by it, men are loosed from the clutches of the enemy. As the Apostle writes, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. 

And so, when you hear the gospel: when you hear that for Christ’s sake, all of your sins, yes, even the sins of your misuse of the power and authority entrusted to your vocation, are forgiven; when you remember that Christ was crucified and buried and that you—through Holy Baptism—were buried with Him in order to be raised to new life; when you receive His Body and Blood, the same Body and Blood once crucified and shed for you, now given to you under bread and wine for forgiveness, life, and salvation; when you hear the gospel, you know that He has the power and authority to make good on His promises. By what authority does Jesus do these things? And Who gave Him this authority? His authority comes from God the Father, with whom He, together with the Holy Spirit, is One. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Numbers 24:1-13

• Epistle: Revelation 2:1-7

• Holy Gospel: Luke 20:1-8

Sermon: